


Bad Romance Highway

by Skylar0Grace



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dark Angel, Gilmore Girls, Legend of the Seeker, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Vampire Diaries (TV), Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-24
Updated: 2010-09-24
Packaged: 2017-11-27 16:18:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar0Grace/pseuds/Skylar0Grace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the Bad Romance Highway, there's no such thing as 'Happily Ever After'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blame Game

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently most crossovers are a little fluffy (I wonder if they've been looking at mine) so over at [**xoverland**](http://xoverland.livejournal.com/profile?admins=owner&socconns=friends) there's a Bad Romance Highway challenge where we have to write fics with complicated story lines. Like love triangles. The majority of my fics are all 'lovey-dovey', as it has been deemed, so this challenge was hard for me. Took me a while. We also had to use different fandoms for each of our entries and seeing as I aim for full points, that's ten fandoms. At first I wasn't even sure I knew ten fandoms, let alone could write them.
> 
> Our crossovers could have happy endings but seriously, once I was in that dark place, it was hard to come back from :P So check them out below and let me know what you think. Especially for the fandoms I haven't written before. Like The Vampire Diaries. And you can all just be quiet there! I know I wasn't going down that track but I blame you f'listers and every one of my subscriptions on YT - filling my head with the whole 'Delena' pairing! :P This is what you get for messing with me! One other person who you've converted to your wicked ways :P Oh, have I got a TON of TVD things for you!!!
> 
> Anyway, check out these fics and let me know...

* * *

"Just leave!"

"Ka-"

"Don't! Please don't make this any harder than it already is. There's nothing left here worth saving."

"Don't say that."

She turned around, busying herself so she wouldn't have to look at him. She realised that is anyone was going to walk out and end the chapter of their lives, it was going to have to be her. Riley wouldn't walk out again and while that was an admirable quality, it was a drawback too. She was the one who was going to have walk away, that this time was no different than the last and if she stayed, she'd never survive another heartbreak.

"There's this wall between us, something you're protecting, and there's no way I live with that. Not anymore."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, intending on turning her around to face him but felt the muscles in her shoulder tighten instead. He took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. It was a mistake... I don't know how many more times I can say it."

"Oh well, I guess all is forgiven. You're sorry."

Tears slipped down her cheeks and he visibly flinched. He reached a hand up to brush them away like he had in the past but she was beyond trying to ignore that they were alright. She turned her face away and his arm dropped to its side.

"Please don't give up on us. On what we have."

"You've already checked out Riley," she said morosely, "You left a while ago and I've stopped wanting to hold us together. There's nothing left."

"She meant nothing. I still love you. I've always loved you. Things just got... complicated. But I want us to work."

She picked up her small bag and began walking toward the door.

"Please Kahlan, just look at me. You of all people should be able to tell if I'm lying or not."

She paused. It was true. She could tell if he was but she didn't want to. She'd never read him because she'd wanted them to work on their own merit. Now she wouldn't read him because his eyes were telling her that he was only speaking the truth and that was painful enough. Having it confirmed would just draw out their demise.

And if he was lying... well that thought just couldn't be entertained. She was broken now. Tired and broken and she needed to leave and heal. Having the knowledge that everything they'd had was a lie would do irreparable damage.

She turned to look over her shoulder but stopped half way. Her brain was telling her that she needed to finish their conversation, that she needed to end things and make it final but her heart was just too broken. She wasn't sure that if she turned around she'd have the strength to walk away. And she couldn't stay.

Releasing a breath, another tear traced the already defined salty path down her cheek. She briefly closed her eyes before opening them and walking out the door, a soft clicking sounding like a deafening noise to them both.

Her name quietly slipped from his lips as he looked at the closed door before his legs gave out and he sat heavily on the floor, tears streaming feely.


	2. Broken And Shattered

* * *

Jo knelt down behind the bar and pulled the box closer to her. Opening it, she began stocking the shelf and pulling out any empty containers. As she pulled an empty peanut tin off the shelf, a rat carcass fell forward causing her to jolt in surprise. As she muttered her disgust and looked for something to dispose of it in, the bell above the door jingled.

"Mark," she called out, "guess what I found?"

Holding the deceased rat by its tail, she stood but dropped it promptly as she saw the blonde man staring at her.

"What are you doing here?"

He shifted awkwardly before taking a step forward. "I came to see you."

She raised her eyebrow. "I think you've said everything."

"Jo-"

"No Luc, you walked away. You wanted something else out of life, someone else, and now we're done."

"I made a mistake!" he almost yelled. "Is that what you want to hear? She's a part of my past that I never had the chance to finish and I made a mistake. I never stopped loving you. Not once."

"Well, I've stopped loving you. Sorry. You wanted to move on and you got what you wanted. I wasn't gonna hang around and wait to see if it didn't work out. Now I've moved on."

He took another step forward. "Jo, we are amazing together. It took me a little while to realise but there's someone out there for everyone, someone they are meant to spend the rest of their life with and you're that for me. I know that I hurt you and if I could do anything to take that away, I would.

"You can't." Jo said as she folded her arms.

"Look, I know the kind of life you have. I know it's dangerous and that you were trained not to trust people. To keep your heart guarded. I'm so sorry that I hurt you. But I want us to get past it. I want you to know you can trust me and I wanna spend the rest of my life making this up to you."

"It's too late Luc. Loving you was the biggest mistake I ever made and I'm not gonna make it again. I've moved on with my life."

His head dropped and he took a deep breath before looking back up at her. "I miss you Jo."

Ignoring the tentatively put together pieces of her heart that were once again shattering, she licked her lips and exhaled the breath she didn't realise she'd been holding.

"I don't miss you."

It was a struggle to make it sound as anything but a whisper but if she was going to make it out of the situation she was going to have to protect herself. The door opened again and a tall, scruffy man walked in. Closing the door quietly, he eyed the man in front of him carefully before looking at his employee.

"Everything all right Jo?"

She nodded before looking down at her feet. Mark moved into the back room - out of sight but still within earshot. She couldn't look at him anymore. She wanted nothing more than to go back to the way things were but he was right about one thing. It was hard for her to trust people and now that he had broken that trust, there was nothing left for them except her except heartache and pain. She heard him sigh and defeat before the bell above the door sounded again. The words, "I love you Jo." escaped him once before he disappeared completely and she was left standing alone once more.


	3. Every Time She Smiles

* * *

"Can we talk?"

Those three words caused Alec's heart to drop. They were never followed by something positive and he swallowed thickly before nodding slowly. He excused himself from the Transgenics nearby and led her to the empty classroom that had recently been converted from a lab for the X8's.

As he turned to face her, she hesitated in the doorway before coming in to sit on a nearby desk in front of him. She was close enough for it not to seem awkward but far enough away that she was out of reach. Never a good sign.

"So..."

Elena smiled softly and Alec knew that whatever happened, that smile was gonna still with him. He loved it. It brightened up the dullest morning and in the midst of an all out war with the Familiars, it could be something reliable. At least until now, it seemed.

"I think we should take a break."

Alec sucked in a heavy breath and she winced. She started several sentences, all in an attempt to ease the blow. Alec felt his Manticore mask sliding into place and his mind raced trying to figure out where everything had gone wrong.

Certainly the last time he had seen her things had seemed fine but he was no idiot, no X5, was but particularly not him. He knew things were 'fine' between them. He hadn't wanted to push her, instead hoping she would come to him with whatever problem it was.

"I care about you Alec and I don't want to hurt you so I think it's best that we end things now before things get messy."

"Messy. I, see, I think I have feelings for someone else."

Alec nodded. "Damon?" Surprise registered on her face. "Didn't really take a genetically engineered soldier to figure it out. To be honest I thought it was just a matter of time."

"I didn't see this coming. Not Damon anyway. And I don't know what I'm going to do or if anything will come from it but I just didn't think it was fair to you. I'm really sorry."

Alec thought about smashing Damon's face in for taking his girl but if he was honest, he only wanted Elena to be happy and if it wasn't with him then he was going to let her go. Besides, he would never admit it but he wasn't entirely sure he could win.

She tried to apologise again but Alec held up a hand. She gave him a sad smile and his bruised and battered heart flipped. Every time she smiled it would flip and he'd get a warm feeling in his chest but now it was just painful. As she walked away from him, Alec squared his shoulders. As soon as she was gone however, he slumped forward, sucking in deep lungfuls of air. He knew Max had entered even before he saw her and stayed where he was. She wrapped her arms around him, like he had once done for her and they sat in silence.


	4. Right Here Waiting

* * *

He looked down at the picture in his hand and smiled at the grinning face. The picture was all he had left and despite how it had ended, he still wanted it. He wanted to look at it and remember how it was, how great that day had been.

They had spent the day at the beach and ended up playing cricket with a bunch of kids. Not one to back down from a challenge, she had insisted on teaming up with the smallest girl in the group.

He wasn't normal. He wasn't even human, but she had made him feel normal that day. Every day with her had been great. Until the last one.

Doyle put the photo back into his wallet and looked up at the signpost. He was going to L.A. After the fiasco with his ex-wife, he had no intention of sticking around and trying to make something work when there was no hope. No, he had learnt his lesson.

As the glittering lights of L.A. came into view, he was reminded of the lights outside her house. The last night he had seen her, the porch light had been out. As usual, Backup barely even raised his head at his arrival. At first he'd barked and growled, desperately trying to warn Veronica of the demon aspect of him but after they had gotten to know each other, Backup had seen him like family.

He could still remember seeing her silhouette behind the door. He could hear raised voices inside but it wasn't until she stopped yelling that he had heard Logan's voice. Something about the way she still looked at her ex irked him and he wasn't sure what to make of it. They seemed to be fighting or ignoring each other most of the time but Doyle knew that some of the best relationships started with such intense passion so he was wary.

Maybe he'd had a right to be.

He was about to walk inside and break up whatever argument they'd been having when he saw Logan's form pull Veronica's to his. And she didn't move away. When Logan finally released her, she spoke in much lower tones, telling him she was with someone else and that things were over between them. He asked her if she still loved him. She said no.

But it was the moment of hesitation that saw Doyle walking away from her door, Backup whining slightly at his pain. Her door opened and he heard her call his name but he didn't even look back. He just got into his car and drove.

It had been while he was pulled over at the side of the road in anguish several kilometres outside of Neptune that he had gotten the vision. One telling him to go to L.A. Telling him to go to Angel. A part of him would always be waiting for her but for now, he had to heal.

And here he was, pulling into the semi dark streets of L.A. looking for the right place with just the clothes on his back and a pocketful of memories.


	5. Don't Leave Me This Way

* * *

"Mum got a new job and we're moving away."

Rory sat down on the swing behind her and looked at her feet. It felt like the whole world was spinning around her and she couldn't get it to slow down. Or moving around her in slow motion. She couldn't decide which.

"I'm really sorry. It wasn't my choice."

"Isn't there some other way?"

John shook his head and looked across the small park. She knew what he was thinking. This park had been the place that she had met him and had become 'their' spot much like the bridge had belonged to her and Jess. Now she would never be able to come here without thinking of him - about what they had and how it had all ended. It was probably poetic somehow.

"They need her tomorrow so we're packing tonight and will be gone before first light."

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes and she clenched them shut. She hadn't known him all that long, just a few months, and they'd been dating only a matter of weeks. But it was still pulling at her heart strings that he was leaving. That his mothers' job was taking him away from her.

"Maybe Luke could give her a job here? And I'm sure they could use an extra hand at the Inn. Mum wouldn't mind, really."

John shook his head. "I just wanted to tell you. Didn't want to just disappear without telling you. You deserve better than that."

Rory knew that his mother hadn't approved of their relationship. Rory couldn't figure out why. A part of her wondered if Sarah had accepted this job far away so that she and John wouldn't be together anymore

She hadn't wanted them to, but tears leaked from her eyes and John's face crumbled. He pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her for what would probably be the last time. She didn't want the moment to end but he pulled away and looked up at the stars.

When he looked back at her, there was a sadness, a weariness, that really shouldn't have been there. He squeezed her hand gently.

"Goodbye Rory."

Then he turned and walked away, his fists going into his pockets and his head down. Within moments, he had turned the corner and was out of view and she felt her heart sinking just like the setting sun behind her. She wasn't sure how long she sat there but night had fallen and she saw Lorelai walking quickly across the park. She reached out her arms as she drew near and Rory fell into them, sobbing as they fell lightly to the ground. 

Lorelai rubbed soothing circles on her back, a soft 'shhh...' being the only noise to blend with her crying. She placed soft, light kisses in Rory's hair and Rory pressed in closer to the familiar scent. She wasn't sure how her mother had known but Lorelai had and right now, it was the only thing she needed. To be in the safest place she knew - her mother's arms.


End file.
